A common technique for mounting a connector on a circuit board, is to place the connector over the circuit board with connector projections aligned with circuit board holes. A lower tooling arrangement supports the bottom of the circuit board while an upper tooling arrangement on a ram moves down to press down the connector and thereby force the connector projections into the circuit board holes. The most common press arrangement includes a fixed platform on which the circuit board is placed, a lower tooling arrangement lying against the bottom of the circuit board or movable up against the bottom of the circuit board, and a ram whose downward stroke is closely controlled to move just far enough to seat the connector on the circuit board. The ram stroke can be manually adjusted or can be automatically adjusted by a closed loop electronic control, for variations in thickness of the circuit board and connector.
Processes that require the lower tooling arrangement to travel upward, increase the complexity and cost of the press, especially when high forces are encountered. On the other hand, requiring an operator to manually place a circuit board directly against a stationary lower tooling arrangement increases the cycle time and increases the possibility of damage to components on the lower side of the circuit board. Closed loop electronic controls to stop and retract the ram are of increased complexity and cost, while the manual adjustment of ram stroke adds to the set-up time.
It is common for a press for a particular set up, to "run" on the order of 100 circuit boards, wherein each circuit board is placed in the press with a set of connectors thereon that are to be seated on the board. The thickness of circuit boards commonly ranges between one-eighth and one-sixteenth inch, while the thickness of connectors commonly ranges between about one-fourth and one-half inch. A press of minimum complexity which could seat connectors on circuit boards with minimal adjustment of the press for variations in circuit board and connector thickness, and with fast setup and cycle times, would be of value.